Background

Currently, 30 companies hold approximately 5300 claims, each covering an area between 16-256 hectares. The total area covered by the claims is approximately 4000 km2;

Any impacts from proposed mines and transportation routes would extend far wider in a fragile region whose plants and animals are extremely sensitive to disturbance;

Noront Resources Ltd.’s environmental assessment for its underground mine to access its high grade nickel-sulphide deposit is ongoing;

In late fall 2013 Cliffs Natural Resources announced an indefinite suspension of its environmental assessment to build 2 open pit mines and a resource road to access its chromite deposit.

In March 2014, Ontario and the nine communities of Matawa Tribal Council announced the signing of a regional framework agreement intended to guide the eventual negotiations related to minerals and other developments in the area known as the Ring of Fire;

The regional framework acknowledges that both parties desire to engage in a government to government relationship to “create benefits and opportunities to improve economic prosperity and quality of life for the First Nations while taking an environmentally responsible approach to mineral development in the area known as the Ring of Fire which is culturally sensitive and which is respectful of constitutional rights”. See framework agreement here;

Both the Far North Science Panel in 2010 and the Far North Advisory Council in 2009 have made it clear that region wide planning approach is needed to address the ecological and cultural significance of the region and to proper plan for the infrastructure that cross many First Nation territories and several major rivers;

Ontario has yet to act on this advice and instead is reviewing and approving projects in a piecemeal manner and in the absence of a regional plan;

The stakes are high in the Attawapiskat River with more diamond mines proposed downstream by DeBeers and Ring of Fire mines proposed upstream;

Wildlands League is calling for a regional strategic environmental assessment (RSEA) before any new mines are approved.

The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) acknowledges that “the current state of practice of Environmental Assessment in Canada demands it” and “[a]fter more than thirty-five years of environmental assessment practice in Canada, there is now a shared understanding that an explicitly regional and strategic approach to environmental assessment is required – an approach that addresses the cumulative environmental effects of human development actions and provides direction for planning and development decision making beyond that which is possible in project-based impact assessment” (see page 6 in link above).

In May 2017, the Globe and Mail reported that Premier Wynne threatened to work with individual communities on a road if all of the Matawa communities could not reach consensus soon.

We continue to monitor development proposals and work with industry, governments, First Nations, scientists for a better approach to environmental assessment here that addresses sustainability, cumulative effects, transparency, public interest and alternative futures.

You can learn more in our full colour 12 page publication here and in a publication by Wildlife Conservation Society Canada and Ecojustice on how Ontario can get it right in the Ring of Fire here.

Ring of Fire

Wildlands Leaguehosted a two day workshop called Regional Approaches to Land and Water Protection in Ontario and Quebec (agenda) where the Ring of Fire was discussed and other potential large developments.

Located approximately 500 km NE of Thunder Bay, it’s been lauded for its potential in terms of chromite deposits and other industrial metals.

What is less well appreciated is that the Ring is located in the heart of an irreplaceable environmental treasure. And over 24,000 First Nations people scattered in 34 small communities call these their ancestral lands. They depend on wild fish and animals for food and have inherent rights to the land. This wilderness of trees, wetlands, lakes and rivers is part of the planet’s largest intact forest. It supports hundreds of plant, mammal and fish species, most in decline elsewhere, and is the continent’s main nesting area for nearly 200 migratory birds. As one of the world’s largest storehouses of carbon, it helps keep climate change in check.

There is a lot of pressure to get shovels in the ground as soon as possible and build new mines. But acting in haste and without a Regional Strategic EA would be a mistake. The Ring of Fire’s mineral wealth isn’t going anywhere.

Above: See where the Ring of Fire is in Ontario &potential infrastructure corridors. Click on image tosee the full map.

Why we care

We care because this region is one of the largest intact areas left on the planet. Industrial resource extraction must meet the highest standards in the world and would only proceed after an over-arching plan to protect the ecological and cultural values for the region is in place.

Ontario needs to take a long term view to ensure local First Nations are respected and the environment is protected. Not many people realize this but the DeBeers’ diamond mine and future diamond mines and proposed Ring of Fire mines to extract nickel, copper and eventually chromite are in the same watershed–the Attawapiskat. And there is no plan in place to make sure that this watershed will be protected in the long run.

The stakes here are high, ecologically, culturally and economically and we want to help Ontario get it right.

Solution

A regional strategic environmental assessment (RSEA) is needed to properly protect the ecological and cultural values of this region before any new mines or infrastructure corridors are built. The assessment must:

be done with the full involvement of First Nations and public hearings, and incorporate the advice of experts such as the Far North Science Advisory Panel;

incorporate explicit and robust cumulative effects design for the sensitive environmental and cultural values of the region; and

ensure a clear commitment to transparency in decision making and protection of the public interest.